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| Background |
 The Slave Geological Province has
become one of the most widely known mineral exploration and
development regions in the world. Known to host deposits of
gold, copper, zinc, nickel, a
nd now diamonds, this ancient rock is among
the world's oldest and was formed about 2.7 to 2.5 billion
years ago. The Slave Geological Province has produced much
of the North's mineral wealth, most recently including such
diamond mines as Ekati, Diavik, and even more recently, Tahera
Diamond Mine (currently under construction). But the development
of this area has been hindered by the remoteness and lack of
transportation infrastructure. The development of an Arctic
port and road network would foster mineral production in the
Slave Geological Province, and would bring many long-term economic
benefits to the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, as well as to
Nunavut as a whole. |
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| About the Proposed
Road |
| Once constructed, the road will see trucks moving
construction materials, as well as offshore fuel, to 'budding'
mine sites, as well as to existing mine sites in the area.
The project could slash the cost of getting supplies and fuel
to these hard-to-reach areas. For example, materials for the
Diavik mine are currently hauled overland 2,300 kilometers
from Edmonton, by rail and across winter ice-roads. Shipping
goods through the Arctic Ocean to Bathurst Inlet would be far
cheaper, and the all-weather road would also lengthen the trucking
season. The current trucking season is currently limited by
ice conditions to only a few months in late winter. Access
across Contwoyto Lake would be by ice road in the winter and
barge in the summer. The project would have many spin-off benefits
including reduced consumer costs in Kitikmeot communities through
the provision of fuel and other bulk goods. The project will
eventually be built through a 50-50 joint venture between Kitikmeot
Corporation and Nuna Logistics, a majority-Inuit-owned company "renowned
for its expertise in ice-road construction and transportation" (additional
information regarding Nuna Logistics, in which Kitikmeot Corporation
is a partner, is available on this website). |
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| Chronology |
| April, 2000 |
| An economic impact study was prepared for Kitikmeot
Corporation by a team consisting of Professor Jack C. Stabler,
Department of Agricultural Economics and Professor Eric C.
Howe, Department of Economics, both of the University of Saskatchewan.
The report projects the economic impact in Nunavut of the building
of the road and port, as well as the economic impact of several
mining projects impacted by the completion of the project.
It projects the effect of the project on the GDP of Nunavut
and Canada, as well as estimating the number of person-years
of employment that will be created. |
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| This report is available as a pdf file, by
clicking here. |
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| June, 2000 |
| An important meeting of stakeholders was held
in Cambridge Bay to prepare for the submission of funding applications
to DIAND and the Government of Nunavut (GN). |
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| Fall, 2000 |
| Two committees were formed, also to help facilitate
the above funding applications, as well as to provide oversight
to the project operators. They were: |
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Technical Advisory Committee - Chaired
by Kitikmeot Corporation, and comprised of such organizations
as Nuna Logistics, the Government of Nunavut, Hamlet of Kugluktuk,
the Bathurst Inlet Port Committee, and others; and |
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Project Management Committee - Chaired by the
Kitikmeot Inuit Association. Comprised of a number of stakeholders
including other municipalities, the Government of Nunavut,
Federal representatives, and others. |
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| July, 2001 |
| Funding for a feasibility study of the project, at a
total cost of $6 million, was approved. It was to be funded 50%
by Indian and Northern Affairs, with 25% each from the Government
of Nunavut, and various mining companies. The purpose of the
feasibility study was to evaluate the cost of constructing and
operating an all-weather toll roadway network and arctic port
servicing known and potential users in the region. The primary
focus of the study was the following transportation infrastructure: |
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A port at the southern end of Bathurst Inlet
capable of handling 50,000 ton vessels and ocean barges |
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280 km of new all-weather gravel roads |
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9 km of existing Lupin Mine roads, and |
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69 km Contwoyto Lake ice road and summer barge
route. |
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| In July, 2001 engineers and environmentalists
began studying a site at the southern end of Bathurst Inlet,
where the construction of a deep-water port is planned. Researchers
also scouted the route of the proposed all-weather road linking
the port to Contwoyto Lake on the Nunavut-NWT border. At this
time, the proposed route included Izok Lake, a zinc and nickel
deposit 265 kilometers southeast of Kugluktuk. |
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| December, 2001 |
| The above study was completed by
Nishi-Khon/SNC-Lavalin. |
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| November, 2002 |
| The Bathurst Road and Port project's
original plan was for a 280-km all-weather road network, in
two sections, connecting a sea-port at Bathurst Inlet with
the huge Izok Lake mineral deposit. The first section will
see a 210-km all-weather road stretching from the port to the
eastern shore of Contwoyto Lake. The second section would extend
to the Izok Lake property. However, about this time, Inmet
dropped the Izok Lake property from its backers' immediate
plans. The plan was thereby revised to include only the first
phase, the 210-km stretch which would end at the shore of Contwoyto
Lake. Inmet's decision was attributable to the price of base
metal prices, which were quite low at the time, making development
of the Izok deposit (and support for the road and port project)
infeasible. Contradicting those who felt the exit of Inmet
made the project uneconomical, it was pointed out that the
Bathurst road and port's main purpose was not to build a transportation
route to Izok Lake. |
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| Rather, it was to stimulate economic
development throughout the entire Kitikmeot Region, i.e. there
are numerous other mineral deposits, and even operating mines,
that will benefit from the development (thereby generating
economic spin-offs for the Region). At this time, the Nunavut
Impact Review Board was formally notified by the proponent
of changes to the scope of the project, to exclude the Izok
section of the road. |
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April, 2003 |
| The Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) advised the proponent
that (as directed by the Minister of Indian Affairs) a revised
project description was required, for the purposes of re-screening
and re-submission (despite NIRB's stated opinion that the change
may have the effect of reducing certain of the environmental
impacts). At this time, a Part 6 panel review (as conducted by
a Federal Environmental Assessment Panel) was being contemplated
(as opposed to a Part 5 review, as conducted by NIRB). |
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| May, 2004 |
| Indian and Northern Affairs decided the project would
undergo a territorial environmental review (Part 5 review, as
described above), as opposed to a federal review (Part 6 review,
as described above). The then Minister of Indian Affairs, Andy
Mitchell, asked that the board pay special attention to the impact
of the road and port project on the economy, as well as on the
Region's wildlife. |
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| Currently |
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The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for this project was submitted to the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) in late 2007, however was later put on hold primarily due to OZ Minerals' indication that they may build their own road from Izok north to the coast, following a different route.
Subsequently OZ Minerals indicated their support for BIPAR, however on June 11th, 2009, China Minmetals Corporation completed the acquisition of OZ Minerals, also indicating their support for BIPAR. As such, all indications are that NIRB will be asked to continue with their review of the project. And it is expected/hoped that Minmetals will elaborate on their previously indicated support for BIPAR in the near future. |
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More information on this
project is available on the project website, at http://www.bipr.ca/ |
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Supplementary information
is also available on Nuna Logistics' website, at http://www.nunalogistics.com/projects/clients/bathurst/index.html |
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Proposed Road (Also Showing
Izok Extension) |
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Artists
Rendition of the Road & Port Project |
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